Moving Up

This blog has been moved to:  http://issasarza.com

See you all there!

Living The Hippie Life

Exactly one year ago, I said goodbye to what many people cling to -- Corporate World. (I can hear oohs at the back of my head haha)

So far, this has been the best decision I ever made in my entire life because I freed myself from many things and have allowed myself to grow and learn. I freed myself from the moral, social and political norms of the corporate structure. I freed myself from a programmed life, a life that is lived just to survive. I freed myself to do the things I want to do, to let the Universe take its natural course and to just follow its flow. And this completely changed the way I see things and basically how I live my life.

"To be a hippie you must believe in peace as the way to resolve differences among peoples, ideologies and religions. The way to peace is through love and tolerance. Loving means accepting others as they are, giving them freedom to express themselves and not judging them based on appearances. This is the core of the hippie philosophy."

Leaving the corporate world was the first step I ever made towards personal growth. It started to revolutionize my little world. Now, I am proud to live a life that is so hippie I no longer belong to any establishment, religion, or class. And every single day, my happiness and wonder with life grows tremendously.

"Our society only permits you one or two weeks a year of freedom to pursue your own agenda. The rest of the time we are slaves to the system. Hippies reject the 9 to 5 lifestyle and therefore are objects of ridicule by those whose lives run by the clock. Programmed people are jealous and resent the freedom we possess. The unmitigated freedom that hippies represent is the greatest threat to any system in which control equals power."

I don't exactly remember when and how I was transformed. I just woke up one day and I realized that I am more concerned about the Earth and the Universe. haha.

"So being a hippie is not a matter of dress, behavior, economic status, or social milieu. It is a philosophical approach to life that emphasizes freedom, peace, love and a respect for others and the earth."

My birthday comes right after the day I left "the normal world" so it's like a rebirth for me. And since I'm one hippie year old now, I will celebrate it the hippie way -- my way. :)

Let Freedom, Peace and Love rule our world!

DIY Notepads

I've been looking for a notebook or even small pieces of paper I can write on and I noticed that we ran out of notepads! Eeek! It's one of the most dreadful thing that we can lose in our home-office, at least for me.

And since I honestly don't want to head out to the nearest bookstore and simply purchase notepads, I thought I'd get a little creative with Mr. Snuggles' old, unused planners and make my own notepads. Well, I still went to the bookstore to purchase the padding glue for this DIY project. haha

Here's how I did it:

1. Cut up the old but unused planner into your desired size using a cutter. I was lucky that Mr. Snuggles' 2008 UP Planner had nice lines that were almost equally laid out on every page. I used a ruler and tore some of the pages by hand just because I like how rugged hand-torn paper looks like. (And the fact that I couldn't find my cutter and I was really excited to cut the pages lol)

2. Align the edges that you plan on gluing together and use a clamp to hold them together.

3. Apply a generous amount of padding glue on the side you clamped. Padding glue comes in white, which dries off clear, and in red which dries off, well... red. :) It would be better if you use a heavy object to

4. Let it dry and voila! You have yourself a lovely notepad!

A visual how-to right here:

My notepads were a huge success at home and I might design other pads as party favors, giveaways or gifts. Will definitely keep you guys posted!

FREEBIE: Valentine's Hearfelt Stickers

I've been reading Osho's book entitled Love, Freedom, Aloneness: The Koan of Relationships and I think his concepts are revolutionary. I wonder how many people are experiencing and more importantly, "giving" real love these days. Guilty of unreal love myself, I am dead set on changing my ways. :)

I'm getting too serious, yeah?

I don't want to bore you so let me just quote one of my favorite lines so far from Osho.

"If I have to choose between the words love and God, I will choose love; I will forget all about God, because those who know love are bound to know God. But it is not vice versa: Those who think about God and philosophize about God may never know about love -- and will never know about God, either."

Well, I am so far away from my title!!! haha.

I've been so engrossed with the meaning of love lately that it inspired me to make these heartfelt stickers for all of you!

I love how they all came out especially because this is actually my first time to dive into digital art. (Thank you Freehand!) Many graphic artists would think I'm nuts for using such a program but what the heck, so far, it's the only graphic/lay-out program I know (was the term even correct?!).

Still, they looked pretty darn good for my first time.

Stick these on your V-day gifts for your friends, family and your one and only!

Enjoy!

Freebie Download:  Valentine's Heartfelt Sticker

Valentine's Day Banners

One more week to go before February and we are welcoming it with so much love!

I've set up banners inside our home just to welcome the month of love :)

Freebie Download: Valentine's Day Banners

Valentine's Pinwheel Box

Here's a great way to give out those mini chocolate hearts or other trinkets to your lovey-dovey.

You can slip inside small pieces of chocolate or a love note. Or better yet, if you are planning on giving a big surprise gift to someone special, you can use these cute pinwheel boxes as a countdown calendar to tease him/her before giving out the surprise. You can fill each box with trinkets, notes or anything under the sun to clue in your recipient about his/her big surprise!

Remember to add handwritten love notes or mushy quotes!

Here's how you can make them:

1. Download the Pinwheel Box template. Print it out on a 200gsm vellum board or any board you like.

2. Cut along the lines provided in the template.

3. You should have a Ninja Star-like pattern. Turn it over so you'll have the pattern on the other side.

4. Fold in the flaps, pattern side out. Follow the folding guide (line dashes) in the pattern.

5. Fold in all the four flaps. Do it as neatly as possible, lines are pretty accurate. There's a space near the "L" corner where you can put a double stick tape. Peel the backing of the double stick tape.

6. Tuck the side with the "L" corner under the curved corner and stick the two corners together.

7. You can also put a small tape inside if you have not used a double stick tape. (Just like I did) Close about 3 flaps only, so you'll have enough room to tuck in your goodies.

8. Slip in your chocolates or notes or whatever trinkets you might want to give your lovey-dovey or friends.

9. Seal the pinwheel box by using a tape under the 3rd flap (which you'll stick to the 4th flap). No need to tape the 4th flap.

Download Freebie:  Pinwheel Box Template (printable)

Have fun making these boxes!

Valentine's Day Garden Soap

Gardening has been listed in my to-do list since 2008. I haven't gotten around doing it yet but last year I planted my own tomatoes. I was pretty good at it until my kittens played with it. My tomato plant grew to about a foot and a half and then one morning, I just found it in shreds. And to think that it was really organic. Boohoo.

Anyway, I made a garden soap which I can hang on the faucet.

For now, I will just rub this Valentine's day-inspired garden soap while imagining all the flowers in bloom. Oh, why Valentine's Day garden soap? It has oatmeal to gently remove all the dirt from my hands and Chocolate, Vanilla and Peppermint essential oils to give that sexy and playful scent that I really love.

You can use any type of soap for this. Just punch a small hole about half an inch away from the edge and loop your favorite ribbon, rope through it.

This is nice because you wouldn't have to put the soap into a soap dish. Sometimes it gets really gross when it gets a little watery. Besides, it's more cost efficient because your soap doesn't melt as fast!

Have fun hanging soaps on your faucets!